This weekend, I decided to try my hand at making some strawberry bread, and let me tell you, it turned out to be a real treat. It’s a moist and tender quick bread, packed with sweet, diced strawberries, and topped with a lovely strawberry glaze. It’s a simple recipe that’s perfect for using up a bunch of fresh strawberries.
The Magic of Strawberry Bread
So, what exactly is this strawberry bread? Well, it’s not just any bread. It’s more like a pillowy soft, melt-in-your-mouth loaf cake. It’s bursting with fresh strawberry flavor, and the glaze on top? Absolutely beautiful, with a vibrant color and a taste that’s just out of this world. Honestly, I think it might be even better than some strawberry cakes I’ve had.
Key Takeaways
- Moist and Tender Texture: Achieved through the use of oil instead of butter and careful mixing.
- Even Strawberry Distribution: Tossing strawberries with flour helps them stay suspended in the batter.
- Simple Glaze: A quick and easy glaze made from fresh strawberries and powdered sugar adds the perfect finishing touch.
- Baking Tips: Using a smaller loaf pan can result in a taller, more attractive loaf.
Getting Started: Prep Work
First things first, you’ll want to preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, it’s time to get those strawberries ready. I used about a cup, or 250 grams, of fresh strawberries. Give them a good wash, hull them, and then dice them up into small pieces. The reason for dicing them small is so they get nicely infused throughout the bread, rather than having big chunks that might stay a bit wet. Little pieces like that are perfect.
Once your strawberries are all prepped, transfer them to a small bowl and set them aside. Now, let’s move on to the dry ingredients.
Mixing the Dry Ingredients
In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour (that’s about 240 grams). If you have a kitchen scale, using it is always a good idea for accuracy. If not, gently fluff the flour in its container, then spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off. Scooping directly from the bag can pack in too much flour, which can make your bread dense and heavy instead of light and tender.
For a bit of balance, add half a teaspoon of salt. And to help the bread rise and become fluffy, we need 2 teaspoons of baking powder. It’s pretty amazing to think about how baking powder and baking soda, which became popular in the 1800s, made all these delicious cakes and breads possible. Before they existed, you’d either have a dense but tasty cake or rely on whipped egg whites, which is great but takes a lot more time and doesn’t work for every recipe.
Grab a whisk and give these dry ingredients a good mix. This ensures everything is evenly distributed. This bread really is lovely, and I have a feeling it’s going to disappear fast. It’s super moist, full of fresh strawberry flavor, and just incredibly delicious.
Combining the Wet Ingredients
Now, grab another medium bowl for the wet ingredients. Measure out 3/4 of a cup of granulated sugar (that’s 150 grams). Fun fact: sugar actually acts like a liquid in baking because it melts. So, using a liquid measuring cup is perfectly fine here.
Next, add half a cup of whole milk (120 milliliters). Then, crack in one large egg. The egg helps hold everything together and gives the bread structure.
For the fat, we’re using half a cup of vegetable oil. You can use any mild-flavored oil you prefer. The reason we use oil instead of butter in this recipe is for softness. Cakes and breads made with oil tend to stay soft and silky even when they’re cold, unlike butter-based ones which can become hard. If you ever have leftover cake that’s gotten a bit firm, try warming it up in the microwave on 50% power for about 20 seconds – it works wonders!
Finally, add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract for that lovely flavor. Give everything a good mix with a whisk. You really want to break up that egg and make sure the mixture is smooth and silky.
The Strawberry Secret: Preventing Sinking
Before we combine everything, there’s one last little trick for the strawberries. To make sure they don’t all sink to the bottom of the batter, we’re going to toss them with 2 tablespoons of flour. This little bit of flour acts like insurance, helping the strawberries stay suspended throughout the bread. It also makes them a little less slippery. Just a gentle toss is all you need.
Assembling the Batter
Now, it’s time to bring it all together. You’ll need a loaf pan, either a standard 9×5 inch or a slightly smaller 1B pan. I like using the smaller pans because they tend to make the bread bake up taller, which looks really nice.
Prep your pan with some baking spray or a bit of butter. Now, you can add the wet ingredients to the dry, or vice versa – it doesn’t really matter. I’m pouring the wet ingredients into the dry and gently folding them together with a spatula. Mix until it’s almost fully combined. It’s okay if there are a few streaks of flour left, but make sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to get everything incorporated.
Now, gently fold in those flour-coated strawberries. Distribute them evenly throughout the batter. It’s important to do this by hand and avoid overmixing. Overmixing can turn your lovely, fluffy bread into something gummy and dense. We want to keep that cakey, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
You’ll notice the batter is quite thick. This is normal! The strawberries will release water as they bake, which will bring the batter to the perfect consistency.
Transfer the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Smooth the top a bit to give it an even start for baking. Look at that – all those pink strawberries peeking through! It looks so pretty.
Baking and Glazing
Pop the loaf pan into the preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for about 55 to 60 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
While the bread is baking, let’s make that delicious strawberry glaze. It’s super easy. Take about three large strawberries (or two medium ones), hull and dice them. Don’t worry about being too precise here, as they’ll be mashed up. If you want an even more intense strawberry flavor and color, you can add an extra tablespoon of strawberries.
Plop the diced strawberries into a bowl. You can reserve some of these for the glaze itself if you like, or add them to a smoothie later. Grab a fork and mash the strawberries really well to break them down and release their juices. This gives the glaze a lovely color and flavor.
To the mashed strawberries, add 1 cup (about 110 grams) of powdered sugar. Start mixing it with the fork. To help it come together, add about a teaspoon of whole milk. Mix it all up until you get a smooth, pourable glaze with a beautiful color.
Finishing Touches
Once your strawberry bread has finished baking, let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then, carefully remove it from the pan and transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely. This is important to prevent the glaze from melting off too much.
When the bread is fully cooled, spoon that delicious strawberry glaze all over the top. Let it drip down the sides – it looks so inviting!
Slice it up, and there you have it! Perfectly sweet, fluffy on the inside, with a nice golden crust, and that amazing strawberry flavor. I really hope you give this recipe a try.